1. Schedule a time for e-mail. We can get sucked into answering tons of e-mails and, before we know it, we’ve lost hours of our workday. By scheduling a time for checking our e-mail — for instance, just before lunch — we can avoid the timesuck that often comes with answering important messages. If you wait until just before lunch to check it, you’ll be more anxious to get to your midday break, and, likely, get through the e-mails more quickly.

2. Ask your boss if that pointless meeting is really necessary. Often, we become so used to going to meetings that we don’t stop to think if they’re necessary or not. How many times have you left a two-hour long meeting only to say, “what just happened?” Meetings are often just a formality, and we could often get the same things accomplished over just e-mail. If you have a good relationship with your supervisor, ask if a certain meeting is necessary, or just counter-productive.

3. Use an egg timer or online stopwatch. These tools give us tangible deadlines for important tasks, and often we stay more focused when we set a finite time for projects. Additionally, those tangible deadlines are usually the ones we actually adhere to. Whether you set it for yourself or it comes from your boss, deadlines keep us on our toes.

4. Make a to-do list. Research has shown again and again that people who create lists are happier and healthier. Plus, there’s nothing like the feeling of crossing a task off your to-do list. (Full disclosure: I sometimes retroactively add tasks to my list just so I can cross them off. Anal retentive much?) Lists help us prioritize our days, weeks and months.

5. Stop multitasking! Our shiny new iPhones may be able to effortlessly switch from task to task, but that doesn’t mean our brains can do it. Again, research continues to prove that multitasking absolutely kills our productivity. We flit from task to task without really accomplishing anything. So set a timer, get to it and then cross the item off your list.

6. Learn how to say no. Many of us have this inane idea that we have to please everyone, all the time, or we’re failures … which of course, is absolutely ridiculous. If someone asks you to do something (that doesn’t have an immediate deadline) and you just don’t have time for it that day, realize that saying no, delegating or outsourcing it is perfectly acceptable.

And remember, we all need time to recharge and have a life outside of work. Whether it’s grabbing a mid-week pedicure, exercising a few times a week, catching up with an old friend for dinner or curling up with the latest from your Netflix queue, don’t forget to take (at least) a few hours each week to breathe. You’ll be better off for it.

The kicker, as highlighted by the article, is that the intern duties are nothing related to their career paths. While this isn’t too much of a shock to our system, it should raise the alarm that we need to be better equipping future leaders in our industries right from the get-go. Internships, whether paid or unpaid, provide a great training ground for all of the little lessons that they’ll otherwise learn at their first job. Like many of us, Gen Y prefers to make mistakes in a low-risk environment.

This article made me reminisce about my days as an intern. I strongly feel that I had the best internship experience at a record label in Nashville, TN. First of all, I was taking a huge risk by moving to another city where I knew no one to take an unpaid internship. The incentive for me was that I wanted to work in the music industry at a point in my life where I had the perfect opportunity to dip my toe in. Here are a few things that my boss did that pushed this experience to the top of the list:

• Gave Autonomy Freely: While at the record label, my supervisor saw that I could take on new projects quickly and efficiently. He suggested that we research what it might be to start an outreach with social media (aaah, the early days). I took the ball and ran, which led to a unique project that was profitable for the company, great for the publicity department and gave me a love for social media like none other. The best part: he allowed me to do it on my own terms. He gave me the space to research and come up with ideas, and even though he led the conference calls, I always received credit when it was due. Gen Y interns just want to gain experience and do great work, so give them a vehicle to do so.
• Helped Build Portfolios: Because he gave me such flexibility to craft my own experience, I walked out of the label armed with an incredible portfolio and the opportunity to apply for jobs there in the future. Not only did I walk away with clippings, website experience, knowledge on how to pitch to media and social media understanding, but I also gained a newfound love for creative writing — something I want to return to now. Gen Y wants to make sure their experience is marketable and worthwhile.
• Inclusion: At the risk of overusing the Spiderman quote, an intern’s mantra should be “with great power comes great responsibility.” Allow interns into your weekly meetings, let them see how you work with your supervisor, and empower them to suggest ways to improve performance in your company. You should also help them to know that their main role in these types of exchanges is to be an observer, but that you would love to debrief these experiences at a later time. Most of Gen Y learns more by observing and doing than by being instructed on the do’s and don’ts.
• Education in the Nitty Gritty Parts of Business: Because he was so inclusive, I learned so many different industry and business tips that are incredibly valuable. I didn’t realize how much I learned until I started my own consultancy and recalled information from my time under his wing. Gen Y wants to see a future for themselves in your company or industry, so show them the underbelly of the business.

Unfortunately, though, blogs have more or less replaced books for me in recent months. There’s nothing I’d rather do on vacation than sit with a novel all day long, but during the workweek, blogs somehow always win out over actual books. No matter what your interest, there are blogs out there. My Google Reader is full of fashion, healthy living, social media, nonprofit and networking feeds.

So, in the interest of finally reading an actual book again, here’s my list of summer must-reads Gen Y’ers can use to further our professional lives. (OK, let’s be real. It will turn into an autumn list in my case, too.)

1. Networking for People Who Hate Networking: A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed and the Underconnected

2. Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship At a Time

3. The Fine Art of Small Talk: How to Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills — and Leave a Positive Impression

4. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

5. Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Change the Way You Lead

6. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

7. Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers

What’s on your reading list this summer? Do you read professional and business-oriented books, or do you stick to novels? Or are you also trying to break free of the “blog-rut” I’ve found myself in?

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But what does all of this hub-bub have to do with employers? Gen Y absolutely loves this brand and Apple’s response gives us an excellent case study on how to communicate with them. The Consumerist rated Apple as top brand for the 21-27 age bracket. In Feb. 2010, Bloomberg and Interbrand ranked Apple as 39th top global brand, falling behind players such as Coca-Cola and Pfizer.

With this most recent debacle concerning the iPhone 4, we should use this as a case study on how to effectively communicate with Gen Y during a crisis or lull in corporate morale:

1. Watch your words carefully: Gen Y will listen to your every word, especially in a tense situation. While they might not research the context behind your statements, they will hang on what you have to say. Make sure you choose your words with the utmost caution. Gen Y will either take your statement and use it to build up your organization or spread any negativity if they don’t agree with your point of view. Gizmodo published Jobs’s answers from the Q&A session after his presentation, calling it “Sh** My Jobs Says” after the other popular Gen Y website “S*** My Dad Says.”
2. Be humble, be honest: If senior management makes a mistake, it is best to admit the errors when they occur, not after the problems were caught and publicized. I’m not saying Gen Y is the only subset of employees who will gossip, but they are the ones who lose loyal feelings toward your brand and company most quickly. Jobs does a great job of admitting mistakes and giving the facts in the first few minutes of this clip of his presentation. Many criticized Jobs, saying that he should have given this fact-based message of the problem much earlier.
3. Offer a solution that resonates with your employees: The core nature of Gen Y is that they are “fixers”: if something is wrong or a shakes their confidence in a brand or company, they want to know how credibility will be restored. In this case, how will Jobs fix the issue of the iPhone 4? Will it be recalled or will they offer a replacement? The first step toward a solution is a huge one for Gen Y’ers, and needs to be made with their best interests in mind. If the believe that a company was only looking at their bottom line when offering a fix, all bets on brand loyalty are off.

Even though Apple’s brand loyalty has been referenced as “the holy grail,” time will tell if the company is affected by the recent backlash. Have you faced similar situations trying to maintain company loyalty among Gen Y employees? What advice would you give?

Author’s note: If you would like to read my breakdown of Apple’s PR dos and don’ts from the iPhone 4 debate, visit my PR blog.

I’m always amazed at the number of people I talk to who think it’s OK to text in a business meeting. Or take a personal call during their first few days on the job, before they know the office culture. Or even tweet during a lunch with the boss. (And let’s face it, that looks like texting, which is equally rude.)

Newsflash: It is not OK to do any of the above. I’m as attached to my Blackberry (soon to be an iPhone!) as everyone else, but I’d like to think I know when to stash it deep inside my bag, on silent or vibrate mode.

Here are some basic do’s and don’ts:

Do: Check for typos in e-mails. Send a basic text or e-mail if you’re running late for a meeting — but no “txt” shorthand! Use formal communications in business e-mails. Understand that some people prefer to communicate via a telephone call rather than an e-mail. Send a written thank you note after an interview. Always ask someone before you list them as a reference.

Don’t: Text your boss to tell him or her that you won’t be in that day. Text during a business meeting or lunch. Use abbreviations in e-mails, instant messages or text messages. Ask for recommendations on LinkedIn from people you’ve barely worked with. Post negative updates about your job to Facebook or Twitter.

Pretty basic, right? Unfortunately, too many Gen Y’ers seem to forget they’re dealing with Boomers and X’ers, who don’t communicate the way we do. Since they’re usually the ones who hire us, we have to adapt to their preferred methods of communication — or risk not getting hired at all.

It all started with Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman’s Newsweek series stating that, since 1990, scores on creativity tests are declining. (Really? I found that difficult to believe!) According to a study by IBM reported in their article, CEOs identified that creativity is the number 1 “leadership competency in the future” — so we obviously know that creative ideas are highly valued. In their follow-up article, Bronson and Merryman give various tips to inspire creativity from young children to older employees, such as discarding a formal improvement/suggestion process and getting some exercise.

Most of their recommendations were spot on, but I think the creativity cycle flows a bit different for Gen Y than the authors suspect — and I’d greatly welcome your additions to this mix. In my mind, its like making cookies: you add the perfect ingredients together and you create a party around something you love.

Idea

It all starts with a thought, right? Bronson and Merryman suggest that you can dictate that employees are creative — they just have to be that way in order to climb the corporate ladder. For Gen Y, I think it’s imperative to build the framework to allow creativity without demanding it. Structure a “creative break” in your own work day and share that you’re starting that new initiative with your team. Chances are, they’ll follow your lead. Again, the “if you build it, they will come” phrase from Field of Dreams comes to mind here.

Brainstorming

I think managers should never discourage brainstorming, even if Bronson and Merryman say so. There is something so powerful when a group brings ideas together, and you can ignore that influence. However, a brainstorming session is only as powerful as the individual ideas that members bring to the table. Gen Y’ers need the preparation time to think of great suggestions and improvements before the pow-wow. So, think ahead when scheduling brainstorming sessions and determine what you want to get out of that specific meeting. Let employees know at least three or four days ahead of time so that they are able to walk into the meeting with some incredible insights.

Passion + Leadership

These two traits do not necessarily go hand-in-hand, but I believe they do in this case. Empower Gen Y to use their passions and take charge. Don’t get discouraged if they don’t understand the situation your company is facing. The fact is, they don’t have the years of experience to bring to the table. However, the combination of their loyalty to your company and the opportunity to take leadership will manifest itself into creative ideas.

I think if you combine all of these traits, you’ll foster a creative loop that can inspire both company newbies and veterans. Did I leave anything out of the equation? Please add your thoughts in the comments below!

According to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Center, Generation Y is ushering in a new “normal” with regards to sharing information online. Sixty-seven percent of the survey’s respondents said by 2020 (10 short years from now!), we will continue to broadcast our personal lives on the Internet (source). Those of us who grew up with AOL Instant Messenger, Geocities and Expage (remember Expage?!) have continued to share our lives with electronic friends and acquaintances, and the research says we’re not going to grow out of it.

As a Gen Y’er, do you plan on sharing information about your life on the Internet as you grow older?

I don’t necessarily see an inherent problem with our generation continuing to share information, as long as it doesn’t cross into the “over-share” category. You know what I’m talking about. We all have those friends whose passive-aggressive Facebook statuses make us cringe, who literally tweet about every meal they eat and who agonize in excruciating detail on their blog after every breakup.

Where do you draw the line? As it becomes even more normal for us to share our lives on the Web, the line between sharing and over-sharing keeps changing. And as young professionals, we have to be more aware of that line — and make sure we’re on the correct side of it — than ever before. It’s all well and good to keep connecting with brands and corporations who also embrace social media (Starbucks and Ann Taylor, I’m looking at you), but when we start getting married and having kids, are those photos going to be plastered all over the Internet?

If you’re serious about your career, keep it professional. The line between sharing and over-sharing is different for everyone. We’re all comfortable with different levels of sharing. But the reality is, it’s 2010 and if you don’t have a Facebook profile, people actually wonder why. We all know potential employers Google us. And although it’s not great if they find crazy party pictures from your youth (or the previous weekend), it’s also not a good sign if there’s no information out there about you.

So share information online. But carefully control and monitor it. My motto, both personally and professionally? Never put anything online you wouldn’t want your mom to see.

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Social media is here to stay for Gen Y.

According to the most recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Gen Y and other Millennial generations will rely on social networks in the future. Of the total sample, 69% of Generation Y (also called “digital natives”) reported that they would continue to be “ambient broadcasters.” They want to continue the social, political and economic conversation online through their social networks. Personally, I’m excited to see how Gen Y evolves social media to engage in these types of discussions.

One of the most encouraging results is that Gen Y reported that they would probably change the frequency and types of information they will share on social networking sites. The study suggested that we are in a “trial-and-error” decade for people to discover how they will use social media and determine their boundaries with information they deem appropriate to share.

What will be interesting to see over the next decade is the type of information that Gen Y will post on location-based programs such as Foursquare and Gowalla. Will they continue to post their whereabouts on Foursquare by checking into every location they visit? Or will they opt to not say anything so that they can’t necessarily be tracked.

In all, the lesson is to keep an eye on social media trends and the way that Gen Y is represented in research. After all, social networks will remain popular over the next decade, and we’ll need to keep an eye for what that reveals about Gen Y and future generations.

So how can you develop your outside interest in recycling, fashion, environmentalism, food, video games or whatever else it may be?

Blog.

I’m not a writer, you may say. So take photos.

I’m not a photographer, you may protest. Write in bullet points if you have to.

I don’t have time. So team up with some friends.

I firmly believe that creating a blog — whether it’s comprised of your writing, photos or even bullet points — can help anyone develop their passions and allow them to network with others who have similar interests.

Sure, not everyone is going to become a professional blogger. But not everyone wants to be one. But by blogging and commenting on related blogs, you can make friendships and create relationships with dozens of people with whom you share interests.

It doesn’t matter how obscure your topic. There’s probably a community out there that you could contribute to. If you don’t have the time to commit to posting frequently yourself, consider writing a joint blog with some friends. Many people have found jobs through their blogs or met valuable contacts that have led to jobs or freelance opportunities.

Any opportunity to showcase your passions and interests is a good one. And with the accessibility of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to develop that showcase. If you’re truly passionate about something, it will shine through when you write about it or photograph it.

Sure, blogging may not be for everyone, but if you’re sitting your cubicle all day, uninspired about the work you’re doing, give it a shot. No matter how niche or random your interest, there’s an online community out there for you.

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According to Inc.com’s report of the American Express (AMEX) OPEN Small Business Monitor 2009 results, economic recovery is truly mind over matter. Results show that 80 percent of Gen Y entrepreneurs (ages 18-28) have more positive perceptions on economic — a complete reverse on what was expected among generations.

• Likeliness to hire new employees (36 percent, versus 25 percent of Gen X and 20 percent of Boomers)
• Willingness to take financial business risks (67 percent, versus 52 percent of Gen X and 47 percent of Boomers)
• Less “stressed about” the economic crisis (57 percent, versus 72 percent of Gen X and 71 percent of Boomers).

In addition, Inc.com asserts that the American Dream may be reclaimed by start-up businesses or entrepreneurs. After talking to academicians, entrepreneurs, business owners and more, hey claim that economic recovery can be helped along by many steps, such as giving small business investors a tax break and passing an energy bill.

I don’t know that you can combine these two reports to say that Gen Y can pull us out of this economic slump by creating many small businesses. However, I think that they have the tools and drive necessary to re-envision what success means in our financial condition.  I am very interested to see an update to this survey, mostly because the economy is showing signs of improvement.

What do you think? Will Gen Y-owned start-ups pave the way for a recovery? I would love your thoughts.